eliza's third birthday.

In May, Miss Eliza turned 3! Three!? My baby girl is three now. These pictures make me smile so much, because you can see every bit of color that this girl brings into our lives. She has so much personality, it literally bounces around the room. Everything she does is a production, carefully thought out and full of theatrics. She performs at every possibly moment, and loves to create and add sparkle to anything she can. With such a big personality, comes big love. She loves with all of her heart, and is the most loyal and caring three-year-old you will find. She loves each and every one of her toys, and every single picture she has ever painted. She loves her family and she loves her friends, and would do anything to make them happy. She flashes that smile, and scrunches up her face with excitement, and you know that she's loving life.

We love you, baby girl!

Eliza decided, months in advance, that she wanted a mermaid birthday party. I decided to make it easy this year, and just throw a little get-together at the beach- minimal decorations, a bit of food, a piñata, and an entire beach to entertain the kids. I was so proud of myself! But, then the forecast said rain and we were forced to move the party to our (tiny) house. So, I had to pull together some last-minute mermaid magic. And, if I do say so myself, the party ended up being pretty darn magical. 

Except for the pre-purchased items, we pulled this things together in one night. We fit 18 kids, and their parents, in our little home and it was straight up wild. I stressed a little the night before about not having enough to entertain these kids, but in the end they just needed each other. Eliza was just so incredibly happy to have all of her friends under her roof. She wore her Halloween mermaid costume to greet her guests, and immediately dragged them off to play.

I found some random balloons for the mantle, and added some branches I clipped off of a nearby tree. I used the piñata as a centerpiece. Eliza really wanted a mermaid piñata, but I just couldn't find anything around that wasn't really creepy. When I came across this "3" piñata with shiny, pink fish scales on Amazon, I felt like it was fate. I painted a few signs to put around, and couple of gold scaled table runners. We displayed the Anna Bond mermaid print, which was a birthday gift for Eliza. And, I splurged for the Meri Meri mermaid plates and napkins, because- how could I not? I even strung up a ton of iridescent bubbles to make a hanging curtain above the food table, but we didn't manage to get a picture of that.

Sam was in charge of the cake, and quite possibly took 8 hours to make it. (A little detail-oriented, much?) But, oh! It was so pretty, in the end! So thank you, honey. We also served croissant sandwiches (because Eliza said they looked like "she-shells"), and a few fruits and salads.

I put together a little mermaid make-over table, which was just darling to watch unfold. We painted nails, and applied face sparkles. There were pearl necklaces and sequin crowns. But, the biggest hit were the metallic tattoos! These kids (boys and girls!) were covered in shiny tats by the end of the party. Eliza had an armband on each tiny arm, and one around each ankle. It was so much fun to see their eyes light up when you peeled back the wet paper. And, those suckers are strong! Her friends were decorated for weeks, and I had to use baby oil to get the remaining bits off in time for Sam's brother's wedding photos a couple of weeks later. They were so cute.

We sang to Eliza, and I loved watching that little grin as all eyes were turned toward her. After the song, she was hesitant to blow out the candle and so Vance, the little boy sitting next to her, did it for her. She looked at him, slightly upset, for about 5 seconds before she decided that cake was more important and yanked off the candle, ready to cut that cake open.

Since it was still raining, we couldn't even take the piñata outside. So, Sam and Chris strung it up on a broomstick and we let the kids whack at it in the living room. Toddlers/pre-schoolers hitting in a piñata is pretty much the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen. In the end, Sam had to take it down and smash the daylights out of it, before stringing it back up and letting the oldest kid hit it open. All the tattooed mermaids/boys came a runnin' and filled their bags with candy and goldfish crackers. Such pure happiness!

We sent our guests home with favor bags- always my favorite party item to make. I gold-embossed muslin bags, and Eliza helped me fill them with seashells, mermaid stickers, bubbles, and a seashell candy necklace. It was the craziest couple of hours, and when the house cleared out it looked like the after-math of a toddler frat party- empty juice boxes in every corner of the house, sparkle tiaras littering the ground, pink cake crumbs trailed across the floor, and a very happy-drunk birthday girl. 

We are so grateful for amazing friends who make Eliza feel so special and loved! Happy (late) birthday, Eliza Roxie!

Ps. Eliza is now obsessed with birthday parties. The spring/summer around her are packed with party invites. She loves to pick out gifts, and see what the theme is. She has already decided what her party will be next year- a pineapple birthday party. (I don't know where she gets this from?) She meticulously makes requests for the details of this pineapple party- it's apparently going to be good!